KUALA LUMPUR: 2023 Budget, which will be presented in Parliament on Oct 7, will continue to focus on strengthening the country's economic recovery and generating sustainable growth, said Minister in the Prime Minister's Department (Economy) Datuk Seri Mustapa Mohamed.
He said the Malaysian economy was on a strong footing, supported by resilient foundations, pragmatic policies and diversified structures.
However, the management of the country's economy in 2022 is expected to be more challenging, he noted.
"The world economic growth forecast in 2022 and 2023 by international organisations such as the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) has been revised and lowered.
"The IMF has revised its global economic growth forecast to 3.2 per cent for 2022 in July from 3.6 per cent in April, and 4.4 per cent in January 2022," he said in a statement today.
Mustapa said that next year, the world economic growth forecast had been lowered from 3.8 per cent in January 2022 to 2.9 per cent in July 2022.
He said gross domestic product (GDP) was expected to grow between 5.3 per cent and 6.3 per cent.
"This takes into account the 6.9 per cent achievement in the first half of 2022," he said.
Mustapa said stimulus packages and the gradual reopening of the economy had cushioned the impact of the Covid-19 crisis and supported economic recovery. – BERNAMA